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After Weinstein Verdict, Gloria Steinem Salutes ‘Brave Women Who Dared to Tell the Truth’ (EXCLUSIVE)

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Feminist icon and activist Gloria Steinem has spoken out about Monday’s criminal judgment against Harvey Weinstein, which saw the disgraced mogul convicted of rape and a criminal sex act.

“Given the fact that this wave of feminism started in a time when the law treated (white) virgins as the only probable victims of rape — and that, if a married woman was raped, it was her husband who had been wronged — we’ve come a long way in a lifetime,” Steinem said in a statement exclusive to Variety.

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“This court victory is due to the courage of brave and diverse girls and women who have dared to tell the truth. I thank each and every one of them!” she concluded.

Steinem, a pioneer of the second-wave feminism movement which blossomed in the 1960s and ’70s, has long been an advocate for victims of sexual harassment, and has stood up for labor justice and reproductive rights. Currently 85, she sat in on the earliest meetings of Times Up, a legal defense fund and lobby for women’s equity. The group itself was formed as a result of the #MeToo movement, which began with the accusers of Weinstein.

The Oscar-winning producer was taken into police custody immediately following Monday’s New York hearing, and is due to be sentenced on March 11.

At a press conference, District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., hailed the verdict as marking a “new day” for rape victims.

“Rape is rape, whether it’s committed by a stranger in a dark alley or by an intimate partner,” Vance said. “It’s rape whether it’s committed by an indigent person or a man of immense power, personage and privilege… Weinstein is a vicious serial sexual predator who used his power to threaten, rape, assault, trick, humiliate and silence his victims.”

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